


An early reconnection

by Lotuslia



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Gen, a what-if situation to the end of KH2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-06
Updated: 2018-04-06
Packaged: 2019-04-19 04:47:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14229594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lotuslia/pseuds/Lotuslia
Summary: I just finished replaying through KH2 a few days ago, and kept thinking, what if Aqua had been around the shore in the realm of Darkness when Riku and Sora were stuck there? Includes some banter with the boys, and a very tired Aqua.





	An early reconnection

**Author's Note:**

> Ven's feelings in Sora's heart are resurfacing for a bit here. To my memory, Sora didn't remember about meeting Aqua as a child until 3D, so he's a bit confused here, though ofc being face to face with her is jogging his memory a bit.  
> Overall, this is just a "what if" thing I was thinking of, and I didn't check for many plotholes that may happen here. I wanted to continue writing from their arrival to the islands too, but I haven't written in such a long time that I'll leave it as a short story for now.

“So, I suppose we’re stuck here.”

The smaller brown-haired boy turned his head towards the other with a thoughtful look, nodding along as he spoke. He leaned back onto his arms, sinking his palms lightly into the cool dark sand under them as he sat with his friend. “I guess, but I mean, at least we saved the other side, y’know! Pretty sure this is the better choice of all that could have happened. Right, Riku?” He turned to grin at the other, still feeling jittery over the last battle they fought only a while ago.

The silver haired, taller boy in question paused before laughing lightly and nodded, a small hint of a smile still visible on his face. A relief that he was not alone in this dark place. “Yeah, that’s true. Wouldn’t do it any other way,” he let the small smile widen for a moment, laying back on the sandy shoreline, his arms spread to the sides for a moment, before tucking them under his head, his face turning more serious as he stared up at the dark blue sky above them. “If Kairi and the others are the light, then we’ll be the darkness.” This received another bright smile from Sora, who honestly was still wrapping his mind over this whole adventure having finally come to an end. And what a journey it was! But he was happy and relieved it was finally over, regardless of being stuck behind the door to the Light. At least he was with his best friend. That meant they could support each other here. After recounting the pieces of their adventures in his mind for a while, Sora also flopped backwards on the sand next to his friend, who looked ready to fall asleep after all they’d been through. Sora didn’t want to bother Riku, if anyone deserved to sleep now it was the two of them, but the urge to speak was overwhelming after they had just met again hours ago. A small mischievous grin spread on his face, as he turned his face towards the taller boy, who was lying on the sand with his eyes half-lidded with drowsiness, head still resting on his folded arms.

“So, who’s the sleepyhead now? I can-NOT believe you and Kairi teased me so much about sleeping, and then you go and start napping before we can even catch up properly!” Okay, well, maybe the urge to tease his friend was more overwhelming than anything else right now. He’d missed their banter. And indeed, though the boy was extremely tired (they both were, Sora just kept running on leftover adrenaline for now), Riku blinked his eyes open again to throw a glare at the younger boy and swatted at him with his arm, though to his disappointment Sora was just out of reach, before rolling over to face his friend properly with a cheek resting on his arm sleepily.

“Shut up, y’dork. At least I’ve done something before sleeping, unlike someone I know, always napping all day on the islands.”

Sora gave a gasp that was half laughter and rolled onto his knees to face the smug face of Riku, who looked a fraction less asleep now that their banter was started. “So rude! I did stuff too, you know! Back on the island too, I helped with the raft!” He puffed up his cheeks, obviously frustrated at the lack of belief his best friend had in him.

“Okay, fine, you carried a few logs and food and then went off to play with Tidus, Wakka and Selphie. Who do you think BUILT the raft? Besides, a raft needs more than two logs, smartass.” Riku responded almost instantly, propping himself up by the elbow and looking very happy that he turned the teasing right back at Sora, who sat defeated back down on his knees in the sand, looking both red with embarrassment and determined to find a way to turn it around yet again, though even he knew deep down that it would require a miracle at this point. Poor boy didn’t know when to quit.

“I- You know! It’s not-“ Sora began stuttering in search of a reply, only to be interrupted by a clink behind them, on the waterline. Mildly startled at any outside noise in the realm of Darkness, they both turned to look at the source of the sound, spotting a small transparent glass bottle floating nearby. It must have drifted into a rock to make the clinking noise they heard. And there looked to be something inside it that looked like a roll of paper. Curious. Before Sora could even get to his feet, Riku had jumped up, forgetting for a moment his injured leg and only stumbling slightly this time, and ran the few steps’ distance to collect the bottle, looking desperate to see what was written on the paper. He held off his curiosity long enough to bring it back to Sora, and they sat down with their feet in the calm water. Sora held the bottle while Riku removed the cork and dug out the letter from inside, opening it and looking it quickly through before laughing lightly once more. That certainly felt good after such a long time of frowning during his adventures. “I think it’s for you, Sora.” He handed the paper over to the curiously staring boy who took it with a hum, beginning to read out loud.

 

" _Thinking of you, wherever you are._

_We pray for our sorrows to end, and hope that our hearts will blend._

_Now I will step forward to realize this wish._

_And who knows:_

_starting a new journey may not be so hard,_

_or maybe it has already begun._

_There are many worlds, but they share the same sky —_

_one sky, one destiny._ "

_-Kairi_

Sora couldn’t know how much time had passed since they got stuck here in the realm of Darkness, but now he knew Kairi and the others had made it safely back home, and he could feel his heart soar. Judging by the other’s expression, Riku was feeling the same way, a relieved look on his face. But before either of them could share their thoughts they heard a sound from further in the water, like an opening door, and a bright light nearly blinded them. Both boys hurried to cover their eyes at first from the harsh brightness, their eyes settled into the soft dimness of the Dark realm, but once the light settled around them they looked once more into the opened doorway ahead of them with equally wondrous expressions on their faces.

“Light-“ Riku began, under his breath, but did not continue speaking, while Sora beat him to it.

“We can get back now! Come on, Riku, let’s go together!” Looking up, Riku found a hand spread out in front of his face, noticing Sora had already stood up as soon as his eyes refocused in the light. A wide smile was plastered on his face, and the older boy couldn’t help but smile back an equally toothy smile, reaching up to take the offered hand. With the tug of his friend’s grasp on his arm, he stood up on sore feet, and turned towards the open doorway with relief filling his whole body. They still had a chance to go back to the others, to their home islands. He began to walk towards the door with shaky but determined steps, Sora only a few steps ahead of him, still holding onto his arm with one hand and reaching out to the doorway with the other, ready to pass through into the light-

 

“WAIT!”

They both startled at the yell coming from behind them, from the world of Darkness. So much so that Riku misstepped and nearly collided with Sora in front of the door in his haste to turn around towards the sudden noise. Heartless didn’t yell, especially not in a panicked female voice. There was someone here with them. The boys’ eyes had already gotten used to the light, so it took some squinting from both of them to be able to see the source of the yell, but soon enough they could see a human shaped figure running closer and finally stop a short distance from them, panting lightly from all the running she’d done, and a devastated but hopeful look on her face. Her hair and clothes were blue, and she was holding a keyblade- Wait. Blue? A keyblade?

Hadn’t he seen this person before?

Blue, like the ocean of Destiny Islands, and a meeting years ago, when they were still children oblivious to any of the dangers they’d be thrown into ten years down the line. And a keyblade, like the one he’d been offered by the brown-haired man just a fleeting time beforehand. This woman who looked not a day older than when they last met, /twelve/ years ago. She was here, in the realm of Darkness.

Why?

 

* * *

 

 

Aqua didn’t know how much time had passed since she’d parted ways with Mickey, after clearing the way for him and the boy to close the door to the light. She knew now, that time did not pass in the Dark realm, as she had learned from the hooded figure twelve years had already passed in the realm of Light. She could only guess how long it had been since her last encounter with another living being.

Since she fought that swarm of heartless to save Riku, instead of following Mickey to the door to light.

Since she encountered the Castle of Dreams here in the darkness.

Since she saved Terra, and fell into the realm of Darkness herself, with no way out.

Since-

Oh, so much had happened, so many terrible things she wished she could go back in time to fix. But that wasn’t an option, and all she could do was keep walking and try not to lose hope. The thought almost made her laugh, with how futile it felt to simply keep hoping in a place that responded to her hopes with more heartless, more danger. But it had been her choice to stay, perhaps she could just fade into the darkness here, let others continue her work.

No, she had to keep going. She’d been through this line of thought before, she could do this. She had to go back to wake up Ven, and to save Terra. She couldn’t give up here, that meant none of it would happen, and her friends, her family would keep suffering. She sniffed determinedly, wiping off any tears in danger of falling from her eyes, and continued walking. But not long after passing yet another dark corner something happened that she’d never have expected, and it startled a slight yelp out of her. A bright ray of light shone towards her and she could hear voices, from somewhere further along. It was not much, but after so long in the darkness, she had to cover her eyes from it, while her feet continued leading her to the source. She knew she had to hurry, and soon her steps turned into longer strides, and she was running towards the light no matter how much it hurt her eyes to look directly at it. She’d missed it so much, she didn’t even care that she was tearing up from the strain it took on her eyes, because she could see a doorway, and she could see the light coming from it and there were figures standing in front of it- no, walking towards it, into it, and she had to stop them, had to make them wait, she wanted out of here-

“WAIT!” She yelled, still ways from them, but clearly her words reached them just fine, as both figures stopped on their tracks right before the door, looking back at her. Her eyes were slowly adjusting, but she didn’t want to wait and miss the one chance she had. “Oh please, wait for me-! Please let me come with you!” She called out to them with her voice shaking from a multitude of feelings; desperation, excitement, fear, and so many others she couldn’t possibly list. To her surprise the two figures in the light looked equally shocked by her presence, and her heart soared as they spoke, faces full of confusion and vague recognition. Did they know her? Now that she could see them properly, her eyes adjusted to the light enough, she could recognize them as well. One of them was the boy she’d saved that time she met Mickey, had he been stuck here as well? Did it not work after all? No, he looked older, he must have gotten out before falling back here again. And the other- wait, she had met them before, hadn’t she? They were the children she’d met on the islands, only grown up now with the twelve years they had spent in the realm of Light. Oh, how relieved she was to see them.

“You-“ The silver haired boy started with a quiet voice, his face showing a faint recognition, though twelve years had faded the memory of her. “Why are you here?” He asked, though Aqua did not have a chance to respond before the other boy spoke, quiet and unsure.

“…Aqua?” He said, looking unsure to how he knew her name, he didn’t remember her very well, much less her name. She looked shocked at the familiar tone of his voice, something about it just felt like home, but before she could figure out what he continued, his voice unsure and face full of confusion and familiarity in a strange mixture. “I- I don’t know why I know that, I just saw your face and knew that was your name? It’s weird. I think I’ve met you once, but… I feel like I know you better than that?” He looked towards his friend, whose expression turned into a frown, clearly confused.

Her head was spinning with all that was happening now, all the new information that was thrown at her face, but she couldn’t question it all here, not now. They needed to get out of here before the door closed again or tried to let anything else out from this side, like last time. “Yes, my name is Aqua, we've met once, a long time ago. But we need to get out, right now. We can talk later. Just, please.” She nodded towards the doorway, which was significantly dimmer now, as if closing soon. The two boys nodded, and while the taller one turned towards the door again, looking concerned, the shorter one continued looking at her, and suddenly his face spread into a grin, a hand held towards her while his other hand was nudging at the other boy to do the same. Soon, she found two arms held out for her to take, and she could cry in happiness.

“Oh yeah! It’s not fair we know your name, but you don’t know ours, Aqua! I’m Sora, and that’s Riku! We’ll introduce you to everyone once we get back to the Islands!” He spoke as cheerfully as she had remembered from their last meeting. She smiled just as widely, taking both hands as they stepped into the light.

“I know,” her eyes were watering, only partially because of the brightness of the light, and she laughed as she took a step through the doorway, “I remember you.”

All she could hear were the laughing of two young boys in response as they got enveloped in the light, and then; the waves of the ocean, the wind in the trees, and the sounds of birds on the island.


End file.
